A staff compliance checklist for an OSHC service
Staff compliance in an OSHC service is a list of small things, each easy on its own and tiring in total. This checklist is a starting point for the items most services track for each person. Adjust it to your state and your approval, because the exact requirements are not the same everywhere.
How to use this list
Print it, or copy it into whatever you use now, and run it for every person who works with children, including casuals, students on placement and vacation care staff. Where an item depends on your jurisdiction, check with your state regulator or ACECQA (acecqa.gov.au).
Before the first shift
These are worth completing before someone is counted in the ratio.
- Working With Children Check (or the local equivalent) verified, with number, expiry and the date you checked
- Identity and right-to-work documents sighted, as your employment process requires
- Qualifications or study enrolment recorded, where they count towards ratios or educator requirements
- Emergency contact and any medical information the person has chosen to share
- Signed employment agreement and any required declarations
In the first weeks
This is the induction window. Record the date each item is done and by whom.
- Tour of the premises, including exits, assembly points and where the first aid kit and medication are kept
- Policies read and signed off, especially child protection, supervision, medical conditions and emergency procedures
- Introduction to the children's medical action plans that apply to the sessions they work
- Shadowing shifts with a named experienced educator
- Walk through the emergency and evacuation procedure
Held and renewed over time
These items have dates attached and are the ones that lapse quietly.
- First aid, CPR, anaphylaxis and asthma training, with expiry dates
- Working With Children Check expiry
- Policy review sign-off when a policy changes
- Annual refreshers for child protection, if your service requires them
- Performance conversations or reviews, on the schedule your service sets
At the service level
A few items are about the service rather than a single person. Emergency and evacuation rehearsals are a regular example: the National Regulations include requirements about rehearsing procedures, and your regulator or ACECQA can confirm how often. Record the date, who took part, and anything you changed afterwards.
Also keep a note of who is the nominated supervisor and who is the responsible person on each day, because that is a record regulators ask for.
Running the list in Lighthouse
Lighthouse turns the lists above into a staff register. Each educator has a record for their documents, policy sign-offs, training, drills and onboarding. The director sees what is missing or due soon on one screen. A paper checklist works fine for a small team that reviews it often. Software earns its place when the list grows past what one person can hold in their head.
Common questions
Who counts as staff for these checks?
Anyone who works with children at your service, which usually includes casuals, students on placement and vacation care staff as well as permanent educators. Ask your state regulator how it treats volunteers and visitors.